Purchasing, Receiving and Using Radioactive Material

To order radioactive material you must be an authorized Principal Investigator or working for an authorized Principal Investigator. The Principal Investigator must be authorized to receive the specific radioisotope and amount to be ordered. The radioisotopes and total amounts are specified on his/her license to possess and use radioactive material.

• Purchasing Material: When purchasing radioactive material from a vendor the researcher must provide the radioactive isotope, the amount of material and the name and telephone number of the Licensed Principal Investigator on the electronic purchase order. The delivery address for all radioactive material packages must be to the Environmental Health and Safety Department (EH&S) at Forchheimer 800. The Radiation Safety Officer must approve the electronic purchase order prior to being ordered through the Purchasing Department. Therefore, you must forward the electronic purchase order to the RSO, who will send it on to Purchasing. The RSO is only responsible for approving the order, not calling in the order to the vendor 
• Other Institutions: If you wish to receive radioactive material from another institution you will be expected to supply them with a copy of Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Radioactive Materials License. The license is on file in the Department of Environmental Health and Safety and can be faxed to the institution making the request. If you provide the Radiation Safety Officer with the name of a contact person and his/her telephone and fax numbers he will have the license sent out. 
• Receiving Radioactive Material: Typically when you order radioactive material on one day, it will arrive the next day. For this reason you should ensure that an individual is available to pickup the package from the Safety Office (800 Forchheimer) that day. The person should be wearing a laboratory coat and dosimeter to pickup the package. He/she does not need to wear gloves as the package is surveyed prior to pickup. The individual needs to sign for the package at the front desk prior to taking it from Safety. If the package is going to Kennedy, the individual needs to obtain a letter from Safety permitting them to take it from the main campus.
• Using Radioactive Material: All radioactive material received by the Principal Investigator must be documented on a "Radioactive Inventory Form". This form is used to document the receipt, use and disposal of all radioactive material in the laboratory. In addition, if you dispose of radioactive material down the sink you should use the "Sink Disposal Log" to document the isotope, amount and date of disposal.